The official site of author Avon Gale

Empty Net Release Week!

Eeee! Empty Net comes out on Friday, you guys. I’m super excited (and…nervous, natch) to share Isaac’s story, as he very quickly became one of my favorite characters to write (which is why he shows up in every book in the series since Book 2, haha).

If you would like to pick up the first three books, Dreamspinner is having an awesome promotion where the first book, Breakaway, is only $1! Save of the Game (Book 2) is $2, and Power Play (Book 3) is…yes, you guessed it! $3! A book hat trick, if you will!

I was fantastically lucky to find two great narrators who really brought the characters to life as I heard them in my head. I love what Scott’s doing with the Scoring Chances series (wait until you hear his Ethan ahhhh) and Derrick was so Avery, it was unreal. It remains excruciating for me to listen to sex scenes I’ve written in audio, but hearing my books narrated by professionals is one of the coolest things I’ve experienced as an author thus far.

As for what’s in the pipeline, I’m gearing up for this release as well as working on a few other projects. If I didn’t mention this before, I’m in a queer horror anthology that will release this December called All In Fear from Open Ink Press. (Hi, let’s talk about how I’m trying not to freak out that I’m in an anthology with K.J. Charles, omg.) I also just signed a contract with Riptide Press to write a modern re-telling of Dracula with the lovely and talented Roan Parrish, and while on an epic road trip from New Orleans to Philly we came up with a super fun serial that we’re going to start working on soon. It’s about an FBI agent in the Art Crimes department who finds himself falling for an art thief, and omg, y’all. We had so much fun plotting it, I can’t wait to write it!

I have an upcoming novella in the Dreamspinner “States of Love” series, called Whiskey Business, that should be out in Dec/Jan. It’s about a very quirky little Kentucky town, a distillery, a company man from Lexington and a lot of really, really bad puns.

And I’ll have more info about this soon, but I’m part of a charity anthology to benefit LGBT inclusiveness in sports called “Changing on the Fly”, which features seven m/m stories of hockey players falling in love on and off the ice.

I’m editing the fifth Scoring Chances book, and there should be a (very early, probably messy) excerpt up in a few days. The last two books in the series will take place in Asheville, with the Ravens. I don’t want to spoil anything from book 4, but suffice it to say there’s a bit of a shake-up (meaning don’t worry, you’re supposed to really hate the Ravens in book 3 and 4 >>)

Finally — no really — I’m having THE MOST FUN writing a hockey trilogy with Piper Vaughn. We’re a good 17K into our first story called “Off the Ice”, which features a very cranky sociology professor and the pro-hockey player who shows up in his summer class. You can read an early excerpt of the first chapter on Piper’s blog if you like, and I’m hoping to share some more here as well. Piper is a gem to work with, she’s an awesome writer, and she taught me about these things called “outlines” I hear so much about. She’s a planner and I’m a pantser, but so far it seems to be a pretty good match 😀

That’s about all! Busy busy, and yet, I just downloaded Cities: Skylines and spent two hours this morning screaming at my computer about “WELL WHY *DON’T* THE WATER PIPES WORK, I DON’T KNOW??” so there’s that. Going to have to save this one for the evening hours, and get back to work! Hope everyone is having an awesome day, and best wishes for a fantastic week! As always, thank you so much for reading!!

3 comments for “Empty Net Release Week!”

I am not following hockey at all, have no interest in it. Too much useless, gratuitous violence. However, I grew up with it and played a bit. When I saw that series, I was intrigued, especially with the angle of gay men (young men) in sports. There is a lot of talking these days about gay athletes and coming out in sports. So I gave it a try. Well… I was hooked! There is just enough hockey to keep things in perspective, but the stories (of the various characters) are front and centre and it was amazing. I am now starting the last one, Empty Net, and I’m so looking forward to it.

I was really pleased by the way you presented the characters. Hesitant, brutish, funny, clumsy, full of history. In the end, I liked them all — well, except Belsey! — and I particularly liked the underlying humour you injected in your writing with parts in italic. And with the thoughts the characters had but obviously didn’t express. I laughed at the one where Drake sees the stare Samarin gives him, similar to the one he gives Max when things are not loaded properly in the dishwasher. Something about Samarin having an opinion about how things should be stacked in the dishwasher! That was so funny.

In any case, fantastic series, wonderful reading, and smart contribution to helping erase the stigma of gays in sports, along with dealing with a slew of other personal and social issues.

Thank you so much! (and my eternal apologies for the unsightly delay in responding — my skill with managing my website def needs improvement!!!) I really appreciate the kind words and I’m so glad you’re enjoying the series. I do hope you enjoy Empty Net, as Isaac is a particular favorite of mine to write <3 Thank you again for the kind words, really, it means a lot <3333